Greatest British HW of all time? Vote NOW!

[Ron Swanson]

To be fair in that statement Lennox is saying Canada made him a boxer.

Maybe he's genuinely curious about great British heavyweights and already knows about Lennox.(even if it did seem he was poking the bear, tongue in cheek perhaps?)

I know I was looking forward to some in depth answers.

[Beanz]

Lennox was born in England. England is part of Great Britain. Lennox left Great Britain at 12 by which time he was irrevocably British. He then himself returned to Britain as an Adult and fought as a Brit from Britain. He has repeatedly claimed to be proud of his Great British heritage and England the place where he was born. He is British.

[hmmfe]

Bob Fitzsimmons. Highly questionable that he was a heavyweight, but did win the lineal undisputed heavyweight title (only other British boxer that can say that is Lennox). Clearly the best fighter on the list pound for pound. In my view, top 5 middleweight and top 5 light-heavy. Not anywhere near top-anything at heavyweight. Lennox is the real answer, but he was not on the list. If I were inclined to do the write-in thing, then Lennox clearly.

[Beanflicker]

Lennox was born in England. England is part of Great Britain. Lennox left Great Britain at 12 by which time he was irrevocably British. He then himself returned to Britain as an Adult and fought as a Brit from Britain. He has repeatedly claimed to be proud of his Great British heritage and England the place where he was born. He is British.

Yeah he was borne and lived in England as a kid but his formative years were spent in Canada, where he also learned to box. And the genetics that made him a huge brute of a man came from Jamaica. So I don't really see what England had to do with making Lennox the boxer.

[Beanz]

Lennox was born in England. England is part of Great Britain. Lennox left Great Britain at 12 by which time he was irrevocably British. He then himself returned to Britain as an Adult and fought as a Brit from Britain. He has repeatedly claimed to be proud of his Great British heritage and England the place where he was born. He is British.

Yeah he was borne and lived in England as a kid but his formative years were spent in Canada, where he also learned to box. And the genetics that made him a huge brute of a man came from Jamaica. So I don't really see what England had to do with making Lennox the boxer.

Borne ? With an e ? The first 12 years of a life are a persons formative years, the only way your argument can make any sense is if you put your fingers in your ears and wail like a banshee. Your ridiculous argument about Jamaican genetics would necessitate the complete revision of thousands of medals the world over. You are moving the goalposts. Your question asked who is the greatest British Heavyweight of all time and now you are disqualifying a British born Athlete who refers to himself as British because you have your knickers in a twist over the paucity of Canadian talent. Where did the genetics that make Wladimir Klitschko and David Price such huge "brutes" come from ? Jamaica ?

[Beanflicker]

Borne ? With an e ? The first 12 years of a life are a persons formative years, the only way your argument can make any sense is if you put your fingers in your ears and wail like a banshee. Your ridiculous argument about Jamaican genetics would necessitate the complete revision of thousands of medals the world over. You are moving the goalposts. Your question asked who is the greatest British Heavyweight of all time and now you are disqualifying a British born Athlete who refers to himself as British because you have your knickers in a twist over the paucity of Canadian talent. Where did the genetics that make Wladimir Klitschko and David Price such huge "brutes" come from ? Jamaica ?

Well I think you're getting too caught up in the "genetics" thing, it was more of a throwaway point to show that he didn't even really have deep British roots.

I'm not moving the goal post at all, I'm making it very clear where I stand and what I'm saying to you: was Lennox Lewis a British citizen? Sure. And as far as I know he still lives over there.

What I'm saying to you, in no uncertain or ambiguous terms, is that England had absolutely nothing to do with producing Lennox THE BOXER. He learned to box in Canada, represented Canada in the Olympics as opposed to England, and then trained in America with Manny Steward.

Was Lennox born in England? YES. Does Lennox consider himself British? YES. Does Lennox speak with a British accent? YES. I'm not disputing any of those things.

Lennox the boxer isn't a product of England. Straight up. It'd be like saying Arturo Gatti is an Italian boxer.

[Beanz]

Borne ? With an e ? The first 12 years of a life are a persons formative years, the only way your argument can make any sense is if you put your fingers in your ears and wail like a banshee. Your ridiculous argument about Jamaican genetics would necessitate the complete revision of thousands of medals the world over. You are moving the goalposts. Your question asked who is the greatest British Heavyweight of all time and now you are disqualifying a British born Athlete who refers to himself as British because you have your knickers in a twist over the paucity of Canadian talent. Where did the genetics that make Wladimir Klitschko and David Price such huge "brutes" come from ? Jamaica ?

Well I think you're getting too caught up in the "genetics" thing, it was more of a throwaway point to show that he didn't even really have deep British roots.

I'm not moving the goal post at all, I'm making it very clear where I stand and what I'm saying to you: was Lennox Lewis a British citizen? Sure. And as far as I know he still lives over there.

What I'm saying to you, in no uncertain or ambiguous terms, is that England had absolutely nothing to do with producing Lennox THE BOXER. He learned to box in Canada, represented Canada in the Olympics as opposed to England, and then trained in America with Manny Steward.

Was Lennox born in England? YES. Does Lennox consider himself British? YES. Does Lennox speak with a British accent? YES. I'm not disputing any of those things.

Lennox the boxer isn't a product of England. Straight up. It'd be like saying Arturo Gatti is an Italian boxer.

Did Gatti return to Italy and fight for the Italian Belt ? Do you really think you can get to 12 years old in the East End without having a fight? What do you think returning to England to become a pro actually signified then? Fighting in York Hall on Bethnal Green, The Royal Albert Hall,Crystal Palace,Hull,Gateshead,Sheffield,Cardiff and Wembley is what makes Lewis a product of Britain. He was taught as an amateur in Canada by a Romanian
before the American John Davenport trained him for 19 fights. Then later his British Promoter Maloney brought Steward in to train his British based British Boxer. To claim that Lennox the boxer is not a product of England is like claiming that Amir Khan is not British because his parents are Pakistani and he trained with Freddy Roach in America.

[Fenster]

"My mum took me to Canada when I was 12, but I am British in my heart. There is a real fearlessness to the British that I feel. I came out of a dance in Canada when I was a teenager and about 30 kids came after me and my friend, and I said, ‘Let's stand our ground.' So we turned to these kids and said, ‘Come on then, let's have you.' And they all ran away, until there were just two or three left. In East London, that would never have happened. They'd have stayed together and beaten me up." Lennox Lewis


That would suggest he got his fighting spirit from being born and raised in Britain. Maybe if he was born and raised in Canada he'd never have even become a boxer.

[Beanflicker]

Did Gatti return to Italy and fight for the Italian Belt ? Do you really think you can get to 12 years old in the East End without having a fight? What do you think returning to England to become a pro actually signified then? Fighting in York Hall on Bethnal Green, The Royal Albert Hall,Crystal Palace,Hull,Gateshead,Sheffield,Cardiff and Wembley is what makes Lewis a product of Britain. He was taught as an amateur in Canada by a Romanian
before the American John Davenport trained him for 19 fights. Then later his British Promoter Maloney brought Steward in to train his British based British Boxer. To claim that Lennox the boxer is not a product of England is like claiming that Amir Khan is not British because his parents are Pakistani and he trained with Freddy Roach in America.

Now now Greenz you're being a silly goose and you're grasping at straws.

You can't compare having a few fights on the cobbles as a young bloke to actually learning the sweet science. You don't learn anything about boxing that way.

The Amir Khan comparison is rubbish too, because Khan grew up and learned to box in England. If Lennox Lewis grew up and learned to box in England and then moved to Canada and refined his skill, I wouldn't be arguing the point with you. But he never laced up a boxing glove until he came to Canada, so at best he's 1/4 British as a fighter.

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

Do you really think you can get to 12 years old in the East End without having a fight?

Not a fucking chance

[palmerq]

Lennox was born in England. England is part of Great Britain. Lennox left Great Britain at 12 by which time he was irrevocably British. He then himself returned to Britain as an Adult and fought as a Brit from Britain. He has repeatedly claimed to be proud of his Great British heritage and England the place where he was born. He is British.

canada is still a british colony too isnt it........

[bradlee180]

Lennox was born in England. England is part of Great Britain. Lennox left Great Britain at 12 by which time he was irrevocably British. He then himself returned to Britain as an Adult and fought as a Brit from Britain. He has repeatedly claimed to be proud of his Great British heritage and England the place where he was born. He is British.

canada is still a british colony too isnt it........

Damn right it is!

Canadians don't even realize this, they think Canada's a real Country; bull$#!t, it remains a colonial power...

[palmerq]

Lennox was born in England. England is part of Great Britain. Lennox left Great Britain at 12 by which time he was irrevocably British. He then himself returned to Britain as an Adult and fought as a Brit from Britain. He has repeatedly claimed to be proud of his Great British heritage and England the place where he was born. He is British.

canada is still a british colony too isnt it........

Damn right it is!

Canadians don't even realize this, they think Canada's a real Country; bull$#!t, it remains a colonial power...

you got that right, the queen is on the money here and she is even head of state ! Get lennox reinstated in this poll born in blighty and was kind enough to represent the colonies in the olympics, Lennox is as british as al murray !

[Beanflicker]

Yeah thats one thing I will agree on, unfortunately we still pledge allegiance to the queen (fucking cunt she is) and her shitty, UGLY family.

[johnsebastianmiran]

At this point in time, we've lived through Bruno and the ups and downs of Lewis but as an American if you don't mind my saying this, I picked Mr. Henry Cooper because of his temperament and the fact that he could have been greater, probably today a better cruiser weight. Mr. Cooper always gave me the impression years later as I became an adult that he was capable of kicking your ass and kicking down the suds hours after the bout. I have no doubt that with modern training and nutrition that he would have got by many of those punches that cut him. I am an Ali fan but nothing gave me more pleasure than to see Henry put him on his ass with that swift left hook of his.